25 Easy Ways to Curb the Annoying Problem of Church Growth

That would do it.

 

Would it? I admit that I understand only some of the 25. :laugh: (No idea what "Give deacons the ability to "gong" the special music," or "Invite the "cops" crew along during hospital visits," mean, for example. And why would visitors/potential new members need to get into the place where Sunday School supplies are stored?). Even so, we serve the Saviour Who said, "I will build my church," and of Whom it was said, "The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved"? Of course, I am not saying that churches should deliberately make themselves unfriendly, unwelcoming, or in any other way offputting. Even so, the very gospel we preach is going to put some people off.

22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1 Corinthians 1:22-24)​

But I am probably taking this too seriously. I tried following the link in the OP, and got a page saying "The domain name www.gcfl.com is for sale Prices in the region of US$4875." A Google serch for gcfl indicated that the link should be www.gcfl.net "GCFL" apparently stands for "The Good Clean Funnies List". :laugh: ​

 

David, the OP is not meant to be serious.

I agree with you that no church would intentionally be off-putting to visitors or prospects. But some churches unwittingly are.

And then there are those churches which are so desperate to be perceived as welcoming that their efforts come across as contrived and insincere. It comes across as part of a marketing strategy.

Those kinds of churches have not yet learned what I heard someone say: If you can fake sincerity, you've got it made.

 

Thanks Tom! I agree. Indeed, I said in my post that I was probably taking the matter too seriously. Thanks again.

 

Because of the colour of his skin alone? I wonder what scriptural support they would have cited for that position!

 

I know of a church that just 20 years ago had a "committee" of men who took turns at the sanctuary doors to make sure the blacks knew where their church was. How sad.

 

We had an interesting Sunday night service this past Sunday. The pastor was ill so we just had a "family meeting" to talk about where we were and to encourage each other.

We are a small, aging church, and sometimes our folks can get discouraged when we hear about other congregations and their explosive growth. Yet God keeps sending people our way who wind up joining.

So I asked our folks, "what are some good things about our church?" Immediately the answer came from two of our newer couples. "We found such love here, and such harmony."

It turned out that the thing they saw first in our congregation was not how we treated our visitors. It was how we treated each other. Naturally, they were welcomed and made to feel at home, but that wasn't the deciding factor in their decision to join us. And it wasn't something we had to tell them; it was what they felt when they first walked in the door.

Their testimonies reinforced in my own mind how important harmony and unity are in a church. And how perceptive visitors can tell if we are or aren't.

 

2-4-19-24= BTDT!! For real!!

Uh--only thing was, doing 24 in adult2 class resulted in several men joining the class.

 

But why should being "in a battle for the bible" involve forbidding people access to services on the grounds of skin colour? I don't see the connection, sorry.

 

But I am still left wondering what scriptural support they would have cited for that position!

 

Attended a church many years back that did a year long study through the book of John.

Unfortunately, a few people got sick of John and decided to go elsewhere.

FWIW, I thought it was a great series.

 

Usually they quote Old Testament passages concerning keeping yourselves separate from the nations.

I've heard people say the mark which God placed on Cain was to make him darkskinned. Therefore, all darkskinned people have the mark of Cain on them.

I've heard Black preachers claim the mark of Cain was leporsy (i.e white skin). Therefore, all white people are devils.

Obviously, I know they are wrong and are abusing scripture to support evil.

It won't be the first time that has been done, nor will it be the last.

peace to youraying:

 

Back to the OP.

I heard a pastor tell of this experience. He had gone to a large church to preach in lu of a call. The church seated over a 1000, but had less than 100 current members.

He arrived early to pray for God's wisdom in the decision. He sat next to the isle, about 5 rows from the front. As he prayed with his head bowed (an 1/2 hour prior to services beginning) he felt someone's presence next to him, and then a grunt ("aaaahummm").

He looked up to see a middle-aged woman looking down at him. "You're sitting in my spot" she said.

He looked around at the near empty sanctuary, and then got up so she could have her seat.

He took that incident as a sign from God to look for another church to Pastor.

peace to youraying:

 

When I was around 10, I was a member of the Boys' Brigade for a year (you might not have heard of it), and for reasons I can't remember we had to attend a service at the local Methodist church. While we were waiting for it to start, an old woman assisted by another lady tottered very slowly past several empty pews and then asked someone to move! :laugh:

 

Though I didn't spend much of my youth in church, the SBC has RA's (Royal Ambassadors), which must be similar to the Boy's Brigade.

The churches use to sell pew spaces to support the church. The ones closest to the preacher where the most expensive. Perhaps this attitude is a carry over from those days?

peace to youraying: